An energy crisis is brewing in Germany as Russia uses gas as a weapon to thwart Germany’s support for Ukraine.
And now this: Russian gas giant Gazprom wants to further cut supplies through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1. Starting Wednesday, 20 percent, or 33 million cubic meters of gas, will flow daily through the most important supply route to Germany, the company announced on Monday. The official reason given by the Russians: maintenance work on another Siemens turbine.
The European Union implements the programme: Gazprom supplies less gas through Nord Stream 1(01:24)
Gas supplies through the currently most important link for Russian natural gas to Germany were resumed last Thursday after ten days of routine maintenance.
The next maintenance is not until autumn
In early June, Gazprom cut supply through the pipeline to 40 percent of maximum capacity and sent the turbine to Canada for repairs. The German government sees this as a pretext.
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin’s (69) turbine strategy is said to be behind it. Because: No maintenance. The next one is not due to fall like him “Spiegel” Citing Siemens reports. Also: A failure can be technically compensated without reducing deliveries.
Large quantities were previously supplied without a turbine. In addition, Gazprom does not use free capacities on other pipeline routes connecting Russia to Europe, “Spiegel” continues.
This again shows that the Kremlin creates a new pretext as soon as another one falls. This is happening as Putin announced during his visit to Tehran last week: unfortunately, another turbine needs to be urgently replaced. Specifically: the end of July.
Russia is playing for time
The outcome of the fight over the serviced turbine is still unknown. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, 54, said it would be installed upon arrival from Canada. Once all the formalities are completed the device will be installed. After that, gas is pumped in technically feasible quantities.
According to “Spiegel”, Siemens Energy can only carry out maintenance work in Canada because the turbines are manufactured there and the trained specialists are there. According to the company, maintenance is a routine activity. There have been no major problems in the last ten years.
“It’s an Open Gas War”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44) sees further blocking of Russian gas supplies to Europe as a form of “terrorism” by Moscow against the West. “This is an open gas war that Russia has unleashed against a united Europe,” Zelensky said in his evening video message on Monday.
Russia is deliberately making it difficult for Europe to prepare for winter. Putin shows once again that he does not care about the fate of the people. By blocking Ukrainian grain exports, Russia is starving people, suffering from cold, poverty and occupation. Instead of considering the return of the already repaired gas turbine, the sanctions against Russia should be tightened, 44 years of demands.
According to reports from the German Press Agency, representatives of EU countries have meanwhile agreed to an emergency plan to reduce gas consumption. Official confirmation is due on Tuesday at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels.
The problem for the EU is that it cannot simply replace Russian gas with another gas. (oco/SDA)
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